The quarterly report to the Joint Budget Committee is sort of an economic check-up for Colorado.

The news on the state budget was good, but there were gloomy overtones about the future of the economy.

The fiscal year that comes to a close at the end of June will come with a $239.5 million surplus beyond what had been predicted.

That's thanks to more tax revenue coming in. Much of the surplus was accounted for by investor profit-taking.

The surplus funds will be rolled into the next fiscal year to pay for public schools, which should help provide cushion if there are unexpected financial problems.

Economists agreed that there is still an unhealthy amount of uncertainty in the economy, which causes people and businesses to hold off on spending.

The highest level of concern was over the European debt crisis. Even though Colorado is outperforming the rest of the nation, a meltdown of the Euro zone could be too much for the state to overcome.

"Usually when anything totally implodes there will be a result somewhere else," State Budget Director Henry Sobanet said. "Under that scenario, which is very hard to predict, we would have to change this forecast."

The potential for automatic budget cuts established by Congress also worry economists. 

If those sequestered cuts actually take place, it could hit military and other Federal spending hard, which would have a disproportionately adverse effect to on Colorado.

Congress could also allow all of the Bush-era tax cuts to expire, which could curb consumer spending across the board.

This year's presidential election is also a factor, especially for businesses. Some businesses may base some decisions in part on who occupies the White House.

In those cases, businesses may put the decision off until after the election, sitting on cash that could be helping the economy.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)